European Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) was established in 1994 by the Treaty on European Union. It is an advisory body composed of representatives of Europe's regional and local authorities. The CoR must be consulted on matters affecting local and regional govern-ment, such as regional policy, cohesion policy, environmental protection, education, and transport, before new measures are taken at EU level.

The Committee has 329 full members and 329 alternate members, with the number of repre-sentatives per Member State based on its population. The German Delegation to the CoR has 24 full members and 24 alternate members. For the 8th mandate period from 2025 to 2030, former Minister of State Thomas Schmidt, Member of the Saxon State Parliament (CDU), and former Minister of State Martin Dulig, Member of the Saxon State Parliament (SPD), are full members for the Free State of Saxony since 2025. Alternate members are Dr. Peter Jahr (District Councilor for Central Saxony, CDU) and Thorsten Ruban-Zeh (Mayor of Hoyer-swerda, SPD).

Thomas Schmidt is a full member of the Commission for Economic Affiars (ECON) and the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research, and Culture (SEDEC). He is Chair of the German Delegation and a member of the CoR Bureau. He also represents the Free State of Saxony in the CoR's Automotive Regions Alliance (ARA) and is Chair of the Automotive Intergroup (CoRAI).

Martin Dulig is a full member of the Commission for the Environment, Climate Change, and Energy (ENVE) and the Commission for Natural Resources (NAT). He is also a member of the Automotive Intergroup (CoRAI) and a member of the new Intergroup Wine.